South Carolina store owner acquitted of murder in 2023 killing of Black teen

essentialsaltes said:

The link covers that.

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You mean, this part?

“Wis asked deputies why Chow was never charged. Deputies said in all of those prior incidents he was either acting out of self-defense or the others involved never stuck around for deputies to take their statements.”

Looks like either he was right for shooting his gun or those that he shot at thought it was not in their best interest to give a statement (most likely upstanding citizens I’m sure).

And then from your own article-

“Officials said at least 200 calls were made from the gas station since 2020. The calls ranged from shoplifting, assaults, larceny, vandalism, car thefts and robbery.”

So he took his gun out and shot in three of the incidences out of 200 incidences. In the 2015 incident the woman threatened to shoot Chow and in the 2018 incident the man hit Chow in the face (assault). The 2013 incident does not say if the men threatened or assaulted Chow but he was not arrested but the people were. Three times out of 200 incidents (since 2020 so I wonder how many since 2013) is not a high percentage and does not show a propensity for using his gun.

Hentenza said:

I’m just trying to understand your statement in light of this trial. I haven’t even mentioned cross-race prejudice. You seem to think that given the racial makeup up of this jury the black jurors would convict a black store owner simply because he is black. There is no basis for this conclusion.

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I'm saying that they would not necessarily acquit him just because he's black.

The racial composition of the jury doesn't matter as much as you seem to think it does--since you were the one who brought it up.

RDKirk said:

I'm saying that they would not necessarily acquit him just because he's black.

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No. That’s not what you said.

RDKirk said:

Speaking as someone who is licensed to carry, and sometimes do carry (I've got two loaded pistols within 3 feet of me at this moment):

No.

That story as given indicates that the threat had clearly ended.

Had the races been reversed, I have zero doubts a black store owner would have been convicted.

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You said that you had zero doubts that a black owner would be convicted and am asking you to explain how you arrived at that conclusion given the particulars of this trial.

RDKirk said:

The racial composition of the jury doesn't matter as much as you seem to think it does--since you were the one who brought it up.

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Jury composition is critical in criminal cases because a jury selected from a representative cross-section of the community protects against government overreach, balances public safety with individual rights, and ensures fair deliberation. This guarantees the accused right to an impartial trial and dictates whether a jury will fairly evaluate the evidence. Lawyers even have experts in jury composition that helps them choose a jury partial to their case during the voir dire process. An unbalanced jury can be grounds for appeal.

Hentenza said:

No. That’s not what you said.


You said that you had zero doubts that a black owner would be convicted and am asking you to explain how you arrived at that conclusion given the particulars of this trial.


Jury composition is critical in criminal cases because a jury selected from a representative cross-section of the community protects against government overreach, balances public safety with individual rights, and ensures fair deliberation. This guarantees the accused right to an impartial trial and dictates whether a jury will fairly evaluate the evidence. Lawyers even have experts in jury composition that helps them choose a jury partial to their case during the voir dire process. An unbalanced jury can be grounds for appeal.

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Lawyers during voir dire are not selecting only for race. Race is a consideration, but not race alone. Nor should it be gender alone.

That can be just as fallacious as any profiling by race or gender, and that's why I presented those real-world examples.

In that particular trial, I was acceptable to both the prosecution and the defense not only because I was black (okay for the defense) but also because I was middle-aged and career military (read: "conservative" for the prosecution). Oh, did I mention the prosecutor was a woman? I suspect she thought those two women on the juror would side with the woman plaintiff who had been beaten up by the male defendant. But, surprisingly, they each had their own reasons for siding with the male defendant instead.

RDKirk said:

Lawyers during voir dire are not selecting only for race. Race is a consideration, but not race alone. Nor should it be gender alone.

That can be just as fallacious as any profiling by race or gender, and that's why I presented those real-world examples.

In that particular trial, I was acceptable to both the prosecution and the defense not only because I was black (okay for the defense) but also because I was middle-aged and career military (read: "conservative" for the prosecution). Oh, did I mention the prosecutor was a woman? I suspect she thought those two women on the juror would side with the woman plaintiff who had been beaten up by the male defendant. But, surprisingly, they each had their own reasons for siding with the male defendant instead.

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I understand that. Your examples are not what I’m having problems understanding. I served in two juries in my lifetime in criminal court with one of them having a hate enhancement so I understand where you are coming from.

My confusion is how, given the details of this case, you can be certain that if the store owner was black he would have been convicted for sure. What is your basis for that?

Hentenza said:

I understand that. Your examples are not what I’m having problems understanding. I served in two juries in my lifetime in criminal court with one of them having a hate enhancement so I understand where you are coming from.

My confusion is how, given the details of this case, you can be certain that if the store owner was black he would have been convicted for sure. What is your basis for that?

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Because regardless of any other circumstances of the case or the jury, in the US if the person with the gun is black, his perspective will always be the hardest to prove.

Statistics bear that out. Being black and legally armed, I've studied those statics very closely.

RDKirk said:

Because regardless of any other circumstances of the case or the jury, in the US if the person with the gun is black, his perspective will always be the hardest to prove.

Statistics bear that out. Being black and legally armed, I've studied those statics very closely.

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The reason why I looked for the jury composition is because conviction rates for blacks drop considerably when at least one black person is in the jury. This jury had 5 black jurors. The following is from a study published by UCLA.

“The evidence regarding the impact of the jury pool on conviction rates is straightforward and striking: the presence of even one or two blacks in the jury pool results in significantly higher conviction rates for white defendants and lower conviction rates for black defendants. Specifically, in cases with no blacks in the jury pool, black defendants are convicted at an 81 percent rate and white defendants at a 66
percent rate. When the jury pool includes at least one black potential juror, conviction rates are almost identical: 71 percent for black defendants and 73 percent for white defendants. The estimated impact of the racial composition of the jury pool on trial outcomes is statistically significant and leads to three main conclusions: (i) there is a significant gap in conviction rates for black versus white defendants when there
are no blacks in the jury pool, (ii) the gap in conviction rates for black versus white defendants is eliminated when there is at least one black member of the jury pool, and (iii) conviction rates for white defendants are significantly higher when there is at least one black member of the jury pool (versus all-
white jury pools). “

https://ccpr.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Impact-of-Jury-Race-in-Criminal-Trials.pdf